


Shuk'la Je'riduurok

by Addleton



Series: AUs of the Deliver Us AU [2]
Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: AU of an AU, Comedy, Fake Marriage, fake divorce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:14:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26826451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Addleton/pseuds/Addleton
Summary: In which Obi-Wan Kenobi is not hiding in the Temple, Anakin Skywalker is not attempting to acquire a second parent, Plo Koon is not a meddling enabler, Wad'e Tay'haai is not amused, and Quinlan Vos is not confused.[Archivist and Swordbelt #2]
Relationships: Wad'e Tay'haai/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: AUs of the Deliver Us AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1943500
Comments: 26
Kudos: 204





	Shuk'la Je'riduurok

**Author's Note:**

> Translations should all be properly linked now!
> 
> Also, I am SCANDALIZED at how no one pointed out that I'd misspelled Tay'haai as Tay'haii. The Obi/Wad'e tag now has the misspelling immortalized in it, seeing as how I'm apparently the first person to write for this ship on AO3. It comes up first when I go in to add the CORRECTLY SPELLED tag. The number of times I've accidentally selected the misspelled tag, only to notice and then accidentally select it again....

Obi-Wan Kenobi was not hiding in the Jedi Temple. He was simply avoiding a potential Incident like what occurred with the Duchess. While the Order and Mando'ade were on good terms at the moment, the situation was delicate and relations with the Senate were more volatile than ever. The last thing the Order needed was a scandal involving a Jedi's fake secret marriage.

Avoiding such a scenario was a purely tactical maneuver not based in any emotions whatsoever. And if it just happened to coincide with his desire to avoid Wad'e Tay'haai specifically, well, that's how one knows the decision is sound, Anakin. The Council even agrees, Anakin. Why are you so invested in this nonexistent marriage, Anakin?

Stop trying to convince your brothers that I'm married, Anakin!

The priority summons from Master Koon could not have been better timed, interrupting Anakin's presentation (color-coded diagrams included) of how, under Republic and Mandalorian law, being married had numerous legal and fiscal benefits that Obi-Wan should be quite literally cashing in on (for the Vod'ike's sake, of course). With a polite smile and pointed comment that such diligent research and effort on delivery might be better directed towards Anakin's Galactic Politics module, Obi-Wan departed from the creche with a carefully released exhale of relief.

His relief lasted until he entered the reserved meeting room to find Wad'e Tay'haai sitting at the table, sipping cautiously at one of Master Koon's more adventurous blends.

"Ah, there you are, young Obi-Wan," Master Koon rumbled pleasantly as he ushered Obi-Wan all the way inside and next to an open chair. "Please, take a seat. Have some tea. Mister Tay'haai has important information to disclose concerning the Vod'ike." The Kel-Dor fiddled with the room settings, engaging the privacy measures and setting the room status to Occupied before sweeping out the door with an, "I shall leave you to your discussion."

The betrayal Obi-Wan felt as the door locked behind Master Koon, whose presence continued to linger in the corridor outside, lasted only a brief moment before the implications of Master Koon's statements hit. Obi-Wan growled, meeting the ramikad's eyes in an aggressive challenge. "You are not claiming custody of them."

The man merely laughed and leaned back in his seat, waving a hand in dismissal. "Udesii, tracyn runi. Your children are yours. I am not here to claim them."

Obi-Wan eased down into his seat, eyes still fixed on the ramikad's face. "Then why _are_ you here?"

Tay'haai's gaze remained unwavering as he replied, "Because, at one point, you claimed to be my riduur, and while you may have since recanted that claim, Fett and I decided that it would be best to confirm that cover, for the ad'ike's sakes. Help further legitimize your place among the Mando'ade, 'lek?"

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes and leaned back in his seat, arms crossed. "And you couldn't have warned me beforehand?"

The ramikad winces and looks away. "In hindsight, I should have, but at the time, I thought it would be nuhunla to surprise you."

"Not jenuhunla?" Obi-Wan asked, his tone perhaps more sharp than was strictly acceptable for a Jedi Master.

"Nuhunla," the man repeated firmly. "When Fett first heard the rumor, he teased me mercilessly for months. I thought it would be more like that. You Jetiise have a reputation for being hard to knock off balance, so it didn't cross my mind that it would be such a shock."

Obi-Wan huffed, but relaxed back into his chair, uncrossing his arms to rest them on the armrests. "I suppose the shock really sold it?" he asked with a rueful half-smile.

Tay'haai grinned. "Elek. Am has banished Dahl to the couch for the foreseeable future, and your Armorer has threatened me in increasingly impressive and creative ways to get me to talk to you and resolve the situation one way or another. I can hardly wait to see what your Armorer has in store for Fett. I almost feel sorry for him, except maintaining the je'riduurok _was_ his idea."

"Poor Dahl. And yes, Sathi is quite something else," Obi-Wan replied with a matching grin of his own. He sighed and looked down at his untouched teacup, taking the moment to release all his tension and mixed emotions to the Force. "I owe you an apology for how coldly I've been treating you, then. This situation must be awkward for you as well."

Tay'haai shrugged. "Ne'takisi. I've had years to get used to the idea. You just had it sprung on you less than a tenday ago. And—" The Mandalorian leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table and his chin on his clasped hands. His dark eyes focused intently on Obi-Wan's own. "—had we met under other circumstances, I have no doubt I would have courted you properly."

Obi-Wan mirrored the pose and added one of his more charming smiles. "You're only saying that to flatter me."

Tay'haai barked out a laugh and shook his head. "Nayc! Not just anyone would adopt five ikaade at once, much less honor the request of their dar'buir, especially when there is a history of enmity between aliite. No, that requires someone Mandokar bal ijaakar ori'ne, and you _are_. I would be honored if you would permit me to court you now."

Obi-Wan glanced down at his still untouched tea, willing the blood to stay away from his face. "You would court me while we're supposedly married."

Tay'haai chuckled. "We would need a shuk'la riduurok first. I take it your Armorer has already talked to you about the process?"

Obi-Wan grimaced as he recalled Sathi's aggressively supportive lecture on his options for divorce and the varying degrees of custody his dar'riduur could be granted over the Vod'ike each avenue entailed. It was a very long holocall, and Anakin's insistence on being present to take notes had not made it any easier.

Obi-Wan settled for a nod in reply, and Wad'e pulled out a small knife from a hidden compartment in his breastplate. "This kalik has been passed down in my aliit for generations. It has traditionally been given to our riduur after the vows are spoken." He stands and walks around the table before kneeling beside Obi-Wan's seat and presenting him with the blade, hilt-first.

Obi-Wan looks between the blade and Wad'e's face. "Are you certain about using it for a ruse?"

Wad'e's expression softens with something Obi-Wan refuses to call adoration. "If all goes well, you'll receive it properly one day," the ramikad replies with a salacious wink.

Obi-Wan huffs out a laugh before carefully accepting the knife. He thinks for a moment before reaching down his boot to slip out the small blade he keeps there. With a deep breath, he holds it out to the other man. "This was a gift from the man who raised me into the Jedi I am now. It has saved my life many times."

Tay'haai accepts the boot knife with a solemn nod and reverently stows the blade in the compartment in his breastplate. The ramikad rises to his feet and unclips his buy'ce from his belt, tucking it under one arm. "Now that that's settled, I'll be going. You'll find me at the Jatnese tomorrow for ori'lor at the table nearest the bar. And, regardless of whether you permit me to court you or not, I have ade of my own, clones like your ad'ike, and they would love to meet their vod'ike."

Obi-Wan stroked his beard in brief contemplation before settling on, "I'll consider it," leaving what precisely he was considering open to interpretation, and if that was because he wasn't certain what he was considering himself, well, no one else needed to know.

With a final smile and a tilt of his head, Tay'haai put on his buy'ce and left the room with a jaunty, "Ret'!"

* * *

Quinlan Vos was on a mission: track down the karking sleemo who made Obi-Wan cry and hide away in the Temple, and make the chuta regret ever hurting Obes.

Quinlan had expected a lot more help from Anakin, but all he got from the kid was "Revenge is not the Jedi Way" and a very unimpressed look when he pointed out that technically this wasn't _revenge_ , it was _justice_ , before the kid walked off to meet his "friends". Fierfek, he'd gotten more help from the Random Mando he'd asked directions from off the street once he explained that he was a friend of Obi-Wan's looking for the hotshuh that made him cry.

Okay, so maybe "the Tay'haai in purple and gray armor" wasn't the most descriptive for a non-Mando (what even _was_ a Tay'haai), but the directions were good, and the Random Mando had even patted Quinlan on the shoulder and wished him good luck with the shovel talk. Not that Quinlan _had_ a shovel on him, but he supposed that it was just one of those idioms that translated weirdly into Basic.

Worst case scenario: Quinlan didn't find the guy today but now knew the location of Obes' favorite place to eat out with the family. And since it was lunchtime and Quinlan was getting a bit peckish, he figured he'd try the food and see if it really was good enough to justify all the time Obes and his growths spent there.

The moment Quinlan stepped through the Jatnese's doors, however, all thoughts of lunch left his mind. The first thing he saw once his eyes adjusted to the lighting was a Mando in purple and gray armor sitting at the table nearest the bar, watching the door, the seat next to them unoccupied. Clearly luck and the Force were both on his side today.

Putting on his most confidently badass smile, Quinlan sauntered over to the Mando and took the seat next to them. "Hello there."

"Seat's reserved," the Mando growled and glared at Quinlan.

"Oh, I won't be here long. I just wanted to know if _you_ knew an Obi-Wan Kenobi."

The Mando's eyes narrowed. "Who's asking?"

"A friend of Obi-Wan Kenobi's." The murmurs of the lunch crowd grew suddenly silent and Quinlan looked up at the approaching footsteps. "Well! Speak of him and he shall appear! Obes!" The Kiffar stood with a welcoming grin and spread his arms open to accept a hug. "You come here often?"

Obi-Wan shot him a patented "Really, Quinlan?" look before ignoring his friend entirely in favor of pulling a really old knife out of his robes and sliding it across the table to the Mando.

The Mando sighed and smiled, rueful, before pulling out a familiar knife from their chest armor and sliding it to Obi-Wan. "I knew this was coming," said the Mando, their hand lingering on the hilt, "but a person can always hope, yeah?"

"Just as you can hope to court me, without expecting to succeed?" Obi-Wan asked, an eyebrow raised, as he slid his hand under the Mando's to retrieve the knife.

The Mando squeezed Obi-Wan's wrist before pulling their hand away. "The best things are always worth fighting for."

Obi-Wan smirked and slid a folded piece of flimsi to the Mando. "Good hunting, then."

Quinlan peered over the Mando's shoulder as they unfolded the message to find a comm code Quinlan recognized as Obi-Wan's personal number. The Kiffar's jaw dropped even as the Mando grinned and shouted "Oya!" in reply.

Quinlan almost missed Obi-Wan turning away from the table and heading for the door as the lunch crowd completely lost their minds and swarmed the table.

"Wait! Obes!" Quinlan shouted at his friend as he attempted to elbow his way through the quickly growing crowd of agitated Mandos around the table. "What did you mean, courting you? Was that a divorce?! Were you married?! For how long?! Obi-Wan, get back here and explain! Is that why you turned me down all those times?!"

Obi-Wan looked over his shoulder, made eye contact with Quinlan, and _winked_ before disappearing out the door, leaving Quinlan behind to be jostled by the increasingly emotional crowd, _thatkarking cheeta!_

"Obi-Waaaaaaaaan!"

* * *

## Mando'a Translations

Mandalorians, here used more in the sense of the Mandalorian diaspora

commando

Calm down, fire soul. - Runi is the poetic word choice, so Wad'e is already heaping on the flattery here.

spouse

small children

yeah - used here as a more casual confirmation in the vein of "you understand"

funny

maliciously funny - jenuhun is a false (je-) or malicious joke, so this more literally translates as "malicious joke-like" or schadenfreude because there's no direct equivalent in English

Jedi, plural

yes

false marriage

No offense taken

No! Not at all!

young children between the ages of 0-3 years old, babies

no-longer parent

clans, families

(possessed of) supreme Manda and honor - The suffix -kar seems to indicate "possessing the qualities of", so ijaakar translates to "possessing honor". Ori + ne = ori'ne, a superlative meaning "most of all, supreme".

divorce, literally "broken marriage"

ex-spouse

narrow blade

helmet

mid-meal, lunch

children

younger siblings

"Until then!" but also "Later!", "See ya!"

"Hell yeah!" but also "Let's hunt!", "Cheers!", "Hoorah!", "Stay alive!"

## Huttese Translations

fucking slime-ball

fucker

general curse word adopted during the Clone Wars, literally means "hex" or "curse"

nuisance

fucking cheater


End file.
